Poolman (film)

Poolman is a 2023 American comedy mystery film directed, produced, co-written by and starring Chris Pine in his directorial debut. It also stars Annette Bening, DeWanda Wise, Stephen Tobolowsky, Clancy Brown, John Ortiz, Ray Wise, Juliet Mills, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Danny DeVito. The film follows Darren Barrenman (Pine), an unwavering optimist and native Angeleno, who spends his days looking after the pool of the Tahitian Tiki apartment block and fighting to make his hometown a better place to live.

The film premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in the United States on May 10, 2024.

Plot
Darren Barrenman is a pool cleaner in Los Angeles, living in an old apartment complex (The Tahitian Tiki) owned by parental figures Jack and Diane. He is an advocate, inspired by Erin Brockovich, constantly pitching his local council on potential improvements, to the disdain of councillor Stephen Toronkowski.

Femme fatale June Del Rey reveals a real-estate and water plot by Toronkowski that requires Barrenman's detective skills.

Barrenman draws on his eclectic group of friends and fellow residents to track Toronkowski and photograph his misdeeds.

Cast

 * Chris Pine as Darren Barrenman
 * Annette Bening as Diane Espilnade
 * DeWanda Wise as June Del Ray
 * Stephen Tobolowsky as Stephen Toronkowski / Blanche
 * Clancy Brown as Theodore Hollandaise
 * John Ortiz as Wayne / Dirk Pfumpter
 * Ray Wise as William Van Patterson
 * Juliet Mills as Mrs. Van Patterson
 * Jennifer Jason Leigh as Susan Kerkovish
 * Danny DeVito as Jack Denisoff

Production
It was announced in February 2022 that Chris Pine was set to make his directorial debut on the film, which he co-wrote the screenplay for with Ian Gotler. Pine will also star in the film alongside Annette Bening and Danny DeVito. Pine came up with the idea for the film during a conversation with director Patty Jenkins, who will serve as a producer. In May, Ariana DeBose and Jennifer Jason Leigh were added to the cast, with Matthew Jensen set as cinematographer. In July, DeWanda Wise joined the cast replacing DeBose who left the project due to scheduling conflicts.

Filming began in June 2022 in Los Angeles. The film moved to post-production by November 2022, with the distribution rights being sold by AGC International to Paramount Pictures, StudioCanal, Lionsgate Films and other companies for multiple countries outside the United States. The rights for the UK and Ireland were sold to Signature Entertainment.

Release
Poolman world premiere took place at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2023. In December 2023, Vertical acquired distribution rights to the film.

The film was released in the United States on May 10, 2024.

Reception
Michael Rechtshaffen, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, called the film a "shrill misfire" and predicted that it would "likely have a tough time finding a home". Siddhant Adlakha from IndieWire opined that the film was "disastrous" and "[i]t's only 100 minutes long, but upward of 99 of those minutes are likely to be spent in silent boredom, if not irritated disbelief at being subjected to such guileless, artless nonsense".